Strawberry Fields Forever
by call me calamity
Summary: It takes them five years to realize what everyone else already has. Oneshot.


_It takes them five years to realize what everyone else already has._

* * *

 ** _12_**

Katie Gardner arrives at Camp Half-Blood on the same day that Travis Stoll is serving his punishment for instigating the Food Fight to End All Food Fights at last Thursday's dinner. Really, Travis thinks working in the strawberry fields for a whole month is a bit harsh. It's not like anybody was seriously injured in the food fight! (Unless you count Steven O'Malley and his trip to the infirmary, but he totally did it to himself.)

The point is, Travis is stuck doing manual labor in the scorching August sun _without his brother._ Connor landed himself on dish duty for the month, much to the brothers' dismay. How can they plan their pranks when they're on opposite sides of camp all day? Come to think of it, Chiron probably did that _very_ intentionally. Beside the point. At least _Connor_ isn't getting sunburn and back pain.

Travis is about a third of the way through picking his sixth basket of strawberries when he catches movement from the corner of his eye. Other campers—mostly Demeter kids—are tending to the fields as well, but Travis's eyes land on two figures to his right, making their way toward him. Standing to his full height, he shields his eyes from the sun with one hand as he squints at the incoming visitors.

He recognizes one of them as Luke but the other, a girl, is definitely new. As they get closer, Travis figures she's about twelve; his age.

"Hey, Travis," says Luke with his signature, easygoing smile. "This is Katie Gardner. She got here this morning."

 _This morning?_ Travis didn't hear anything about a new camper. He must've been out here in the fields when she showed up. Regardless, he smiles at Katie. "What's up?"

She smiles shyly, and Travis has two thoughts. One: she's cute. Two: she looks like she'll be fun to prank. He keeps those thoughts to himself, though, instead deciding to analyze her. She's short, shorter than him, but that's not really saying much because Travis is tall for his age, anyway. Her hair is a few shades lighter than his; dusty brown like the color of tree bark. She's got a nice tan, with light freckles on her face. Green eyes.

Travis is interrupted from his scrutiny when Luke turns back to Katie. "So, yeah, strawberry fields. Usually the children of Demeter are the ones to take care of it."

Katie nods, then turns to Travis. "Is he a son of Demeter?" she asks, the question directed for Luke. Her voice betrays her seemingly-shy demeanor—it's firm and even; articulate. Travis expected soft and timid.

Travis frowns at her question, feeling slightly insulted. Him? A son of the _plant_ goddess? "No, I—" he begins but Luke talks over him.

"No, he's just a troublemaker."

"Oh, okay," Katie frowns, obviously confused, but doesn't press it.

"Well, there you have it, Katie," says Luke. "Camp Half-Blood's strawberry fields. They're super important; our whole guise is Delphi Strawberry service. The profit from our strawberries goes to camp funds."

Katie nods in understanding. Travis notices that she hasn't asked too many questions, like most new campers would. She must be adjusting well.

The pair move to head away, but not before Katie turns back around.

"It was nice meeting you Travis," she says. Travis waves in response before returning to his strawberry picking. Is it just him or does Luke wink?

Ignoring it, Travis smiles slightly to himself.

Katie Gardner, huh?

* * *

"Travis can't stop staring at the new girl."

"I know. I's pathetic."

"I think it's kinda cute."

"I just hope she's not a Hermes kid, for his sake."

"True. I already ship it."

"They're twelve!"

"So?"

* * *

 ** _13_**

In all of her thirteen years of life, Katie's not sure she's ever met somebody as infuriating as the Stoll brothers.

The pranks were funny at first, especially when she was unclaimed in the Hermes cabin since she got to partake in them, but eventually they just got _old._ So now here she is, covered in flour after her cabin was hit with a barrage of small, colorful balloons filled with the white starch.

"Oh, you guys like _flowers!_ " Travis snickers as Connor and the new kid, Percy, stifle laughter behind him. The children of Demeter glare like angry snowpeople. "We thought it was _flour,_ " Travis continues. "Sorry. Dyslexia."

Katie doesn't even bother commenting on the fact that dyslexia has nothing to do with phonetics, at least not in this instance, because any sane person knows the difference between _flowers_ and _flour._ Then again, the Stolls can barely be described as sane, anyway.

Olivia Meadows, the head counselor of Demeter's cabin, is telling the pranksters off. Olivia is sixteen and kind of like an overbearing mother usually; nagging, but generally sweet. However, when Olivia nags, she _nags._ Travis, Connor, and Percy don't seem fazed by her lecture about not using flour as a projectile weapon.

Suddenly Travis's gaze shifts, and his eyes lock with Katie's. He smirks slightly, then uses one finger to gesture at the entirety of his own face. _You've got a little something,_ the action implies. Katie glares. Travis winks.

Her heart flutters.

Ugh.

Sometimes she wishes Travis wasn't cute, because it only makes him more infuriating. She thinks it's something to do with the curly chestnut hair, or the bright blue eyes, because there's no way his personality helps anything at all. No way. Whenever he pulls a stupid prank she just wants to wipe that stupidly cute smirk off his face. With her fist.

She expresses this frustration to Miranda later at night, after everyone has been showered and cleansed of flour. "I just really hate him," Katie says in conclusion.

Miranda looks at her for a moment before the corners of her mouth twitch upward. "I don't know," she shrugs. "I think you guys would make a cute couple. Like, Annabeth totally has a crush on that new kid, but she's acting as if she hates him."

"Ew, Miranda!" Katie protests, face scrunching up in disgust. "No way! I could _never_ date Travis. Ever."

Plus, Katie reasons with herself, they're only thirteen. Are they even old enough to date?

Not that it matters! She won't ever date Travis Stoll. Not if her life depends on it.

* * *

"I think Katie likes Travis."

"What? Doesn't she hate him?"

"They're thirteen. They just don't know how to express their feelings."

"Huh. I guess so."

"Whatever. I think it's cute."

* * *

 ** _14_**

Being a head counselor kind of sucks. You have to go to meetings. And act _responsible._ And Travis hates (almost) exactly two things: meetings and acting responsible. They're right up there with green beans and the entire state of Michigan.

Oh, and Luke Castellan. That guy can eat _skatá_ and choke on it.

First of all, the betrayal struck hard. Luke, out of everyone, a traitor. Second of all, he left Travis to pick up where he left off on his counseling duties. (Well, and Connor, but that's only because Travis begged Chiron to let his brother co-counsel and the centaur probably just felt bad.)

So, yeah. Screw that guy.

Travis is sulking beside Connor at the ping pong table as other counselors discuss the next step for Camp. It's all kind of in one ear and out the other to Travis. He doesn't miss the distrusting glances from the other demigods, as if he and Connor had something to do with Luke's treachery. Guilty by association.

They can all eat _skatá,_ too.

Silena is saying something when a movement outside the window of the Big House catches Travis's eye. It's Katie, peering in as if she's trying to see what's going on. Travis smiles to himself. He never pegged Gardner as the nosy type, much less the spying type.

When the meeting ends, Travis practically sprints out of the tense, stuffy environment of the Big House, taking a relieved breath of fresh air. Thank the _gods_ that's over. Connor trudges out behind him only a moment later, clapping him on the shoulder tiredly. "I need to prank someone," he groans, and Travis nods in agreement.

"Ares?" he suggests, and Connor smiles wickedly.

"You read my mind, brother."

"You're going to get slaughtered," comes a different voice, and the brothers spin around to face the source. Katie Gardner.

She's standing there, arms crossed and hair pulled back from her face with a floral bandanna. She's holding a small gardening tool in one gloved hand—spade, maybe? Travis has no idea—and her knees are covered in dirt. Her face looks stern, and for a moment she reminds Travis of her older sister Olivia. He shudders.

"What makes you say that?" Connor retorts, regarding her earlier statement.

"You really want to prank the _Ares_ cabin?" Katie says, eyebrows raised. "Especially with how tense everything's been around here? Clarisse will literally chop off your heads."

Travis grins. "Well, maybe that wouldn't be so bad," he turns to Connor. "No more meetings!"

Connor gets a dreamy, faraway look in his eyes. "No more meetings," he repeats.

When Travis looks back to Katie, he swears the corners of her mouth twitch upwards. Pride swells in his chest, but then he frowns slightly. Who cares if he makes Katie smile?

"Well, suit yourselves then," says Katie, rolling her eyes. Any trace of a smile is gone. "I just think this idea is an especially horrible one. Hermes cabin isn't exactly the most well-liked right now, considering—"

Connor tenses and suddenly, Travis grows angry. She's just like everybody else, stereotyping the entire cabin based off of what Luke did. "Stuff it, Gardner," he bites out.

She looks taken aback. "I don't—"

"If you think you can just go around assuming that we're no-good like Luke, then you're wrong," continues Travis. "I'm sick of everybody basing their judgments off of something that _one_ of our campers did! We were just as clueless as you guys!" He doesn't know why he's getting so fired up. Did he really think Katie would be different from everyone else?

Now it's Katie's turn to glare. "Well maybe if you had let me _finish,_ you wouldn't be getting so worked up right now," she says, the venom in her voice matching his. Connor is watching the two of them like a tennis match.

"Well, then tell me!" Travis challenges. "What were you going to say?"

Katie shakes her head. "I don't owe you _anything,_ Stoll. I was only trying to help, but I guess I'm too _judgmental_ for that."

Travis opens his mouth, but she's already stalking away, back toward the fields. "Bitch," he mutters under his breath, and Connor jams his elbow into his side.

"Ow!" Travis yelps. "Dude!"

"You kind of jumped the gun on that one, bro," says Connor. "I really do think she was trying to help."

Travis snorts. "Yeah, by insulting us?"

Connor rolls his eyes, and the two begin walking toward their cabin. "She wasn't insulting us, Travis. You just... you just got upset because you don't want _Katie_ to be mad at you!"

"I... _psh!_ What? No way!" Travis denies. "Gardner can get as angry as she wants to. I don't care!"

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't!"

"Do too!"

"Do _not!_ "

"Fine," Connor sighs. "Whatever, man. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt."

Travis feels his face heating up. He is _not_ in denial. "Just get the cling wrap from the kitchen," he says. "We've got an Ares cabin to piss off."

* * *

"How can there be sexual tension between fourteen-year-olds?"

"They start young, I guess."

"I just hope they don't kill each other before anything can happen. It would ruin everything."

"Relax. They're just like Percy and Annabeth."

"I can see that."

"Of course you can. 'Hey-I-really-hate-you' pretty much always translates to 'Hey-I-secretly-love-you.'"

"Like _Pride and Prejudice?_ "

"Sure."

* * *

 ** _15_**

Katie wonders what Camp's protocol for ruthless and unabashed murder is, because when she gets her hands on Travis Stoll he is a dead man.

She was just trying to hang out with Owen Jackson from the Apollo cabin (can you say _swoon?_ ) when, of course, a certain Stoll decided to ruin everything. She regrets even _mentioning_ the date to Travis in the first place, or at least the fact that they were going to the lake, because as soon as they open the door to the boat shed they're covered in paint.

It's a classic, _stupid_ prank. Open the door, trip the wire, get drenched in color.

Katie leaves poor Owen standing there in all of his pink-and-green glory as she stomps her way back up to Camp, trailing wet paint the whole way. People back out of her way when they see her, not daring to laugh. Almost on autopilot, she finds herself knocking on the door to the Hermes cabin.

It's Connor who opens the door. His eyes widen. "Oh, Katie, hey—"

"Move," she growls, pushing past him and storming over to the bunk she knows belongs to his brother. The other Hermes campers jump away from her. She's not sure if it's because of the paint or the murderous look on her face. Probably both.

As she assumed, Travis is lying leisurely on his bed, tossing a bouncing ball up into the air and catching it. When he sees Katie, he smiles lazily. "Oh, hey. New look?"

"You are the _worst!_ "

Travis sits up. "What? How do you even know that I did anything?"

"Seriously, Travis?" Now he's just being obnoxious.

"Okay, yeah, fine, I did it," he admits, still seeming unbothered. "But honestly, Gardner, I _saved_ you. Owen has _no_ personality!"

"And how would you know?" Katie demands. Owen is a year older. She's never seen Travis interact with him, not once.

"Psh," Travis shrugs. "He just... has one of those faces, you know?"

"No, I don't know!"

"Oh. Well, he does."

"How does that even make sense?"

"Does it have to?"

Gods, he's infuriating. She just wanted _one_ day to have fun, sans-pranks. Is that so hard?

"Whatever, Travis," she mutters, rolling her eyes. "You're impossible."

She turns to leave, but he suddenly reaches out and grabs her wrist. Her stomach flips. She's about to turn on her heel and punch him in the nose, but he speaks before she can. "Look," he begins. "I... I'll clean up the boat shed, okay?"

Katie scoffs. "Well I would hope so, because I didn't plan on doing it."

Travis hesitates, then lets go of her wrist and rolls his eyes. "Whatever. You're dripping paint all over the floor."

"Then I'm sure you'll have no problem cleaning that up, too," Katie says. When she turns to leave this time, he doesn't stop her.

* * *

"Travis was totally jealous."

"Oh, a hundred percent."

"Well maybe if he spent less time pranking her he'd get better results."

"I think that's the only way he can get her attention."

"Has he tried, I don't know, being nice?"

"Please. He's a Stoll."

"Hey, there's hope for everyone."

* * *

 ** _16_**

So, the Battle of the Labyrinth sucks almost as much as being a head counselor, if not more.

Why? Oh, because everyone is _dying._

It's like everywhere Travis looks, a demigod or a monster is going down. He slices through a hellhound and it explodes into dust. Coughing a few times, he watches as Connor disarms another demigod a few yards away, sending them sprinting off in the opposite direction. Travis notices that Luke hasn't made an appearance. Coward.

A scuffle to his right catches his attention, and Travis notices a few children of Demeter squaring off with a group of _dracanae._ Katie is among them, taking on the largest snake lady with her sword. Travis knows that Katie prefers using plants for combat as opposed to celestial bronze, but that requires distance she doesn't have.

Katie's sword locks with the _dracanae's_ spear above their heads, and after a brief standoff, Katie lifts her leg and kicks the monster backwards. She brings her sword down in an arc and cuts through its shoulder. The _dracanae_ screeches and dissolves. Katie blows hair out of her face and turns around, and her eyes lock with Travis's. He realizes he was staring and quickly looks away, turning right into a Laistrygorian giant.

He curses, lifting his shield sluggishly and barely deflecting the blow from the Laistrygonian's club. The force causes him to stagger back. _Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ he berates himself. He got distracted and now he's about to get clubbed to death by a smelly giant. Wonderful.

He's about to make a wild swipe with his sword for the giant's ankles when the thing kicks him right in the chest. He blacks out for a moment, landing hard on his back as the wind is knocked out of him. _Ow._ The giant is standing over him now, pointed yellow teeth bared in a gnarly smile as he raises his club. Travis closes his eyes and braces himself for the death that's definitely coming, but nothing happens.

Opening his eyes slowly, Travis sees the giant now suspended several feet in the air, wrapped in thick vines as it writhes around trying to break free. Seizing the opportunity and ignoring the pain in his chest, Travis lurches forward and stabs the giant in the foot. With a howl, it bursts into dust. The vines shudder and collapse to the ground. Travis has to dodge them as they fall.

He turns to the side and sees Katie, hands still raised from when she was holding the plant up. She's breathing heavily, and her hair is flying everywhere and there's a cut on her cheek, but for some reason the only thing Travis can think is _beautiful._

And then she collapses.

At first, Travis thinks it's from exertion as he sprints toward her without a second's hesitation. But then, as he grows closer, he notices the shaft of an arrow protruding from the side of her leg. "No," he mutters, crouching on the ground beside her. "Katie? Katie!"

She groans, attempting to sit up straight but crying out when she moves her leg. "Oh my gods," she gasps. "Oh my gods, Travis, what the _hell._ "

"What do you mean, 'Travis, what the hell?'" he demands incredulously, voice raised. He's not sure if it's from panic or from anger. "You're so _stupid,_ Katie! Gods, you just left yourself wide open... why would you... stupid! Duck!" he commands, and she obliges just as he swings his sword over her head, right through an incoming _dracanae._

" _I'm_ stupid?" Katie retorts, head popping back up. "You're the one who almost got killed by a Laistrygonian—behind you!"—Travis whirls around and a hellhound catches on his blade—"because you decided to get distracted!"

"Well I'm _sorry_ that you looked really hot after finishing off that _dracanae!_ "

"What?"

"What?"

"Oh, whatever!" Katie says. "I've got an arrow in my leg and I am not arguing with you right now. Just get me to a medic!"

She doesn't even protest when he picks her up bridal style and carries her away from the battle.

* * *

"I don't think he's left the infirmary yet."

"He won't until she does."

"I heard she saved his life."

"Because she likes him, duh."

"I still don't know how they're not dating yet."

"It's because they're both so stubborn."

* * *

 _ **17**_

"You're so _stupid,_ Travis!"

"Déjà vu, Gardner?"

"Shut up!"

Katie doesn't know whether she should kiss Travis or punch him. _Stupid_ Hermes kid took a _stupid_ arrow to his _stupid_ shoulder for her. And he has the nerve to _joke_ about it.

"Katie, you've literally done the same thing for me before," Travis reasons from his spot on the couch, where Kayla is treating his arm. The arrow lies discarded on the ground.

"Yeah, but—"

"No, it was not different."

"You weren't even supposed to be at the tunnel!" Katie exclaims, and it's true. She has no idea why Travis and a few other Hermes kids showed up to assist her cabin at its post.

"Well, if I wasn't, you'd be dead," says Travis matter-of-factly as Kayla begins to bandage his arm. "So you're welcome."

Katie shakes her head. "You're infuriating," she tells him.

"It's a gift."

"That's all set, Travis," says Kayla, standing up and wiping her forehead. The poor girl looks exhausted. Travis and Katie both thank the Apollo girl and she heads on her way, looking for other injuries to treat.

Katie and Travis fall into silence after Kayla leaves, Katie still standing above him with crossed arms and Travis lying on the couch looking anywhere but at her. Katie hates it. It's like ever since the Battle of the Labyrinth, their dynamic has been different. Travis became more flirtatious, and the pranks became less extreme. They were actually able to hold conversations. There were even some instances where she thought that maybe... well.

But he just _had_ to go and ruin everything with the chocolate bunnies, and it was right back to square one.

Whatever. Maybe it's time to throw the bad blood away.

"Thanks," Katie finally mutters, breaking the silence.

"What?"

"I said thanks," she repeats, picking at one of her fingernails. "For... taking that arrow. It almost makes up for the chocolate bunnies."

Travis gapes at her. "What do you mean, _almost?_ I literally saved your life, Gardner."

She smiles. "Take a joke, Stoll."

At this, he breaks into a grin. "A joke, huh? From Katie Gardner?"

"Shut up," she says, shaking her head. "I mean it, okay? Thank you."

Travis moves to sit up, wincing a bit as he puts pressure on his bad arm. "It really wasn't a problem. A scar on my arm is better than you being dead."

Katie smiles at that, heart fluttering. She's finally come to terms with the fact that maybe she has a thing for Travis, and his comment makes her happier than it probably should. She moves to sit beside him on the couch, on the side of his good arm. "War sucks," she says, and Travis snorts.

"Yeah, it does," he agrees. "I hope Connor's okay."

"He's a great fighter," Katie reassures. "I'm sure he's fine."

Travis nods. Then, "Katie, I..." he turns to face her, and she does the same, and she realizes how close they are to each other. Oh, gods. She hopes she isn't blushing. Travis clears his throat, averting his gaze. "I just... if you died, or even if I died, I wouldn't..." he sighs. "There's just a lot of things I never did, you know?"

"Like what?" Katie asks, and she notices how soft her voice sounds. His eyes lock on hers once more, searching her face, and he opens his mouth as if he's about to speak, but appears to change his mind. And then he closes his eyes tight, mutters something incomprehensible, leans forward, and kisses her.

Katie is shocked, to say the least. So shocked that she doesn't respond, and when Travis pulls back he has this guilty look on his face and he's blushing. "Ah, gods, I'm sorry Katie, I shouldn't have—"

Shaking herself out of her stupor, she kisses him this time. Practically throws herself at him, really, wrapping her arms around his neck. His good arm moves to rest around her waist as he responds with just as much enthusiasm as Katie initiated with. She feels like she's flying, momentarily forgetting about the war that's raging outside as she finally gets to curl her fingers into his hair (it's just as soft as it looks).

They finally break apart, slightly out of breath with wide smiles.

"I knew it!"

They turn, startled, to the source of the voice, and see Connor standing before them with his arms raised triumphantly. "I knew it!" he says again. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Travis, oh my _gods,_ you're so annoying! _No, I don't like her, shut up Connor, I'm not in love with Gardner, leave it, bro._ Liar! Brother's intuition. I _knew_ it!" He takes a deep breath, then grins crookedly. "How's the arm, by the way?"

Travis groans, burying his face in Katie's shoulder as she fights a smile.

Looks like the feelings have been mutual all along.

* * *

"Oh my gods, it's about time."

"Yeah, it only took two injuries."

"So many pranks."

"All those arguments."

"Five. Years."

"Well, the wait was worth it."

"Yeah, it was."

* * *

 **i know, i know. more tratie. honestly, i don't think i've ever shipped a non-canon pairing this hard before. this'll be the last one for a while. maybe. if i do end up writing more for these two, i might just start a collection or something. maybe add them onto _color green,_ who knows.**

 **this story took a completely different turn than i intended. like, totally different. i had one idea that i thought was good, then realized i couldn't really work with it, and wound up with this instead. but i don't know, i kinda like the way it turned out in the end. i just really feel like this pairing has so much potential. maybe it's just me.**

 **also i made them older than percy, yes. i just like it better that way, not really sure why. this probably makes connor the same age as percy though, so it's all good. i think i just didn't want everything to follow the series exactly. so, they met before it started, when they were a year older than percy. i don't think their ages were ever confirmed, anyway. all we know is that travis is at college now, meaning he probably actually is eighteen, making him a year older than percy. right? i don't know, i'm horrible at math.**

 **anyway, i hope you enjoyed it! happy wednesday, and if you're from the east coast like i am, rejoice that we finally have spring weather!**

 **oh, also! _skatá_** **translates to "shit." or, the pronunciation of it. the actual way to write it is _σκατά_ , but i noticed that rick riordan uses _vlákas_ for "idiot" when the actual greek version is _βλάκας._** ** _vlákas_ is just the pronunciation. ****i think he did it so that the word is easier to read. so i'm sorry if anybody tried putting** ** _skatá_** **into google translate and saw that it meant "skate." travis doesn't want luke to eat skates.**


End file.
